Veilstuck
by silvyshi
Summary: Boop this is my shamelessly shippy DaveKat fic about the three years everyone is stuck on that dumb meteor and stuff ok have fun judging me or s/t.
1. Week Three

It's been about three weeks trapped on the veil with Strider and Lalonde a recent addition to the party. After just the first two days you thought that maybe you'd overreacted and this wasn't going to be as bad as you'd made it out to be, but day three quickly proved your initial suspicion correct when Dave decided that derping around with Terezi wasn't quite enough to keep him entertained and he'd made harassing you his new favorite hobby.

He pesters you about practically everything, about your relationships with the other trolls, your terrible self-loathing issues, the differences between human and Alternian culture; even your former hate crush on John, which he probably knows about through his daily conversations with Terezi.

With a little help from Kanaya, you've forced yourself to become evasive, avoiding contact with the human as often as possible. You hate doing it, feeling like a wimp for running away from your problems like this, but at this point it's honestly all you can do to keep yourself from having a complete emotional breakdown.

...

"Sup Vantas,"

You nearly flinch as the words burst out from behind you, pausing the shitty computer program you'd been fucking around with but not turning to face the teenager who you know is standing right behind you, one of his signature smirks more than likely plastered on his pink fleshy face.

You hear him start to say something else when you refuse to respond, but you easily cut him off, keeping your back to him as you speak: "What the fuck do you want this time."

He walks over to your side and you reluctantly swivel your chair around to face him, frowning as he gives a casual shrug. "Not much, just checking in on my favorite little ball of anger, you know; the usual. It's nice to see you're not mute, by the way. I was a little worried there for a second. Thought you lost your voice or something. Man, wouldn't that be tragic."

You give him a blank sort of look, determined not to let this spiral into another inane argument. "Just get the fuck away from me, Strider. I'm not even in the mood."

Dave gives you an exaggerated gasp, throwing a hand over his mouth for a few moments in feigned surprise. "Karkat Vantas? Not in the mood to go off on one of his signature tangents? I'm shocked; speechless even. Never thought I'd live to see this day."

You feel your nose twitch a bit and you curl one of your hands into a loose fist to avoid blowing up at him. Another pointless argument is just what he wants, and if you let him get his way, things are only going to get worse for you later on. "Just fuck off, alright?"

The human sends you a mocking sort of frown, shaking his head in what was meant to be a false act of disappointment. "Shooting me down and pushing me away just 'cause that pretty vampire friend of yours thinks you should steer clear of me, huh. And here I thought you didn't listen to anyone; thought you did the shit you wanted and didn't give a fuck what other people thought. Yet here you are, practically bowing down to some sparkly white chic like you're her fucking dog or something."

That last comment makes you flinch, and you know that expression a person has when they're about to laugh their fucking ass off at you? Well that's the exact look painted on Strider's face right now.

Only he doesn't laugh because he's got to keep up that moronic cool kid act of his. So he just stands there, smirking at you like a fucking tool and leaving you to pivot your chair back towards the computer screen, halfheartedly muttering a few insults under your breath.

There's a brief moment of silence before he speaks again and you think that maybe you'd be happier if you'd let Gamzee cull you instead of shoosh papping his psycopathic clown ass a few weeks ago.

"That's seriously it? The almighty Karkat just doing whatever this Twilight chic says? I thought you were the leader. The big tough dog giving all of the fucking orders. Guess it's all bark and no bite then huh."

You keep your eyes glued to the screen in front you, staring blankly at the program you'd been trying to pick apart before Strider's arrival in the lab, but not doing anything with it. Just staring at it like a retard as if you're going to find the solution to your current predicament somewhere within the coding.

You're pathetic. Just sitting here refusing to say anything like this. Is this really what you've been reduced to? To some wimp who can be silenced by a douche like him? Are you really out of things to say after only three weeks? What's even gotten into you?

And then Dave does laugh and it's this quick, pompous sort of thing and you really want nothing more than to punch him right in his fucking mouth, but a physical fight is the last thing you need. Besides, you'd never hear the end of it from Kanaya.

"What's wrong Kitkat, out of insults already? Guess it's no bark then either. What, can you only do this kind of shit when you're at a fucking computer? Real life arguments just ain't the same for you, right? Gotta do all your trolling on the interwebs or something."

And there goes your other hand, curling itself into a fist to match the other, only this time you're digging your nails so far into your palm you can feel that mutant blood of yours pumping through your veins.

You turn to face him again, bright orange eyes snapping up to meet the human's gaze behind his shades as you feel a soft growling noise rising up from the back of your throat. You narrow your eyes at him, speaking through bared teeth.

"Fuck you. Fuck you and fuck your shitty glasses and your fleshy pink face and your practical obsession with following me around like I'm your fucking prey. Fuck you for thinking you can do whatever the fuck you want and fuck you for being such an unbearable douche all of the fucking time. Fuck you for doing nothing in this gray abyss other than scheme with Terezi and make my life as miserable as fucking possible. Do you really think I want to deal with your incessant cool-kid blather every single second of my goddamn life? Do you honestly think I give a fuck if you're bored in this hell-hole? Do you seriously believe that you can just go on like this for the next sweep and a half? Do you think I'm going to let you get away with this shit? Fuck you. Kanaya doesn't control me, Strider. Believe it or not she's actually trying to be a good friend and keep me out of shit like this, unlike Terezi who seems absolutely thrilled about idea that another three fucking human years with you could very well throw me into some sort of breakdown of not only the mental sort but very well the emotional manner as well. Fuck you. I'm done. Don't you understand when someone is through with your shit or is your minuscule human think pan really so deficient that you can't even realize a fact as simple as that."

You're left huffing when you're through with your tangent, heart pounding and cheeks a bit flushed from all of that rage you just spewed in the human's direction.

Dave only smirks again, and your expression quickly shifts to one of devastation as you realize you gave him just the reaction he's been practically lusting after.

He leans forward to give you a quick pat on the head. You wince at that, automatically smoothing your hair down where he'd touched you, and glaring at him some more as he opens his mouth to speak again.

"There's the Vantas we all know and love. Well you have fun dealing with that raging hateboner towards me, kay? I think it's time for my quality time with TZ but don't worry babe I'll be back later so don't you worry your pretty little head about that."

You open your mouth to shoot back a sarcastic retort, but he's over to the transportalizer and out of the lab before you can get a single word out, leaving you to bang your head against your desk a few times, absolutely dreading the next interaction with him, per usual.


	2. Week Seven and a Half

The next few weeks pass in a slow, painstaking manner, what, with you putting up even more of an effort to avoid Dave than usual. You think he notices, too, which only makes your self-loathing issues heighten to a practically morbid degree.

Whenever he enters the room you're currently occupying you make a big deal of striking up a conversation with Kanaya, insisting that it has to be continued somewhere else and then absconding to the complete opposite end of the veil. You try not to notice that obnoxious smirk on Strider's face as you do this, but you do anyway, and god, do you hate it.

You spend most of your time practically hiding in the room you've claimed as your makeshift respiteblock, not really doing much of anything. Just waiting for these three years to be over and done with it so you can actually carry on with life instead of wasting it away worrying about this kind of shit.

Dave isn't the only one who's noticed your submission into solitude, either. Terezi is sending you these ridiculous sarcastic grins now, and whenever Lalonde looks at you you can practically feel her judging you for running away from her ectobrother like this.

You're honestly not sure what's better at this point; continuing to flee like you are or just sucking it up and dealing with his shit, hopefully giving him an argument that'll finally make him shut up for once in his life.

It's around week seven or eight that you decide with the latter of your options; sick of moping around like a woofbeast that's been kicked into listening to everything its jackass master tells it. You're done with wasting your time wallowing in self pity just because Strider can read you like a fucking book. Everyone else can do that, too. So what. So you're this insecure little douche who can't restrain himself when it comes to disputes. You're this dumb kid that can't control his emotions and who blows up at every single little thing. You know how pathetic you are. You definitely don't need Strider of all people reminding you about it every single day.

Jesus fuck, you really hate yourself.

But you think at this point, you hate the human more.

...

You see the transportalizer light up out of the corner of your eye and, realizing that it was pretty pointless trying to convince Gamzee that forcing faygo down the throats of the people he'd murdered wasn't going to do shit, you turn to face the new arrival with an unamused expression on your face, not once turning to face Kanaya to send her one of those silent pleas for help.

The human raises an eyebrow at this, clearly interested in this shocking new development. Gamzee, on the other hand, gives a small shrug and then ambles over to his recently renovated horn pile as Dave walks up to greet (read: harass) you, clearly not interested in the asinine argument that was sure to come.

"So what's up, Karkitten, haven't really had the chance to talk to you lately. Well I have but seems like you've been pretty busy hangin around that sparkly white lady friend of yours. Christ, though, how long have you been running away from me for, like a year?"

Your expression quickly rearranges itself into a scowl. First line of the conversation and he's already nagging at you about your heightened evasiveness as of late. Figures.

"It's only been a few weeks, asshole." You want to say more, but your heart rate's already steadily increasing into a practical torrent, and you need to let out a quick sigh masked with irritation to try and disguise your hopefully not completely obvious discomfort.

A slight smirk tugs at the blonde's lips and you can tell he's trying to hide it; trying to keep his face void of all emotion, but you notice it either way and that fact almost bothers you. It irks you that you're able to pick up little details like this from him of all people.

"Oh, so you've been counting. Nice to see you missed me, babe. Coulda talked to me sooner, y'know, I don't bite or anything. Unless you're into that kind of thing."

You raise your shoulders in a mix of irritation and nerves, one of your animalistic growls bubbling up from the back of your throat and then escaping your mouth through your bared teeth.

"Fuck off. Don't talk to me like I'm your fucking girlfriend, Strider. Not sure if you've noticed, and it'd honestly be pretty fucking sad if you haven't at this point, but I sort of hate you. We're not friends. We're never going to be friends, so don't you talk to me like that or I swear to your dumb earth gods that don't even fucking exist that I will let Gamzee make a corpse out of you just like he did with half of the other fucking people I know."

The human lets that smirk of his become apparent, raising his eyebrows at you in mock interest. "So basically you're saying I was right about that whole hateboner thing, yeah?"

You roll your eyes, raising your hand to give yourself a quick facepalm. "Okay, no, fuck you. Why the fuck do you humans automatically suspect that there are underlying caliginous feelings whenever any one of us uses the word hate. I mean believe it or not, but there's actually a thing called platonic hate in our culture. Just because I happen to loathe you and your fucking cool-kid facade doesn't mean I'm lusting after you."

There's a moment or two of silence, which makes you uneasy as fuck. You give a nervous swallow and open your mouth to say something else, but then he's taking a step closer to you, getting his face all up in yours and your think pan sort of just stops working.

You lean backwards a bit and you're suddenly aware of the other people in the room staring in your direction as the human's smirk widens into what's basically just this really unsettling grin. One that honestly looks a little unnatural on his face. You doubt he's aware of how much emotion he's showing right now; of how completely obvious it is that he's enjoying this little game far more than he should be.

Your senses come back at the room's occupants' becoming aware of your current situation and that blank, startled look on your face quickly snaps back into a scowl. You don't make any move to get away from Dave, though. If you try to pull something like that, you're basically just handing him victory on a stunning silver platter.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing," you spit out, sunken orange eyes snapping up and easily meeting the human's own gaze behind those precious shades of his.

He gives you a slight shrug, unphased. "I dunno, Karkles, just thinking that your saying you loathe me is pretty strong language for a platonic hatred. And fyi, this sweet cool-kid act of mine's not a facade, kay?"

You let your eyes narrow in a bored sort of expression. You open your mouth to tell him off some more but he suddenly leans in and you think that maybe he's going to kiss you for some weird fucked up reason, but he pauses right before your lips, hesitating for a moment and then looking at you from over the top of his shades and waiting for your reaction.

You just sort of gape at him for a second or two before snapping your mouth closed, a slight cherry tint coming to your cheeks, more than a little embarrassed by your initial reaction.

"No seriously, what the fuck are you doing." You speak the words through gritted teeth, trying to keep yourself from completely freaking out.

He drops his gaze to your lips and when he speaks, his voice is this soft, sickly sweet murmur that you didn't even know the human was capable of.

"Just proving a point."

And then he does kiss you, and it's this quick, saccharine sort of thing and even though it feels like it lasts a lifetime, it's over in a matter of seconds. He pulls away from you when the deed is done, lingering there in front of you afterwards, so close you can still feel his breath on your face. He's no longer smirking at you, and the look on his face is this stoic sort of thing, slightly twisted in latent confusion.

You two just stand there in silence for a while, no longer aware of other members of the room staring at you like you're out of your minds, which you probably are, in retrospect, seeing as you had no problem with that little burst of affection that just took place.

It takes a few dreadfully long minutes of cautious silence, but you kiss him back, swiftly and violently, the complete opposite of his disgusting candied peck. You feel him practically freeze under your lips, this interaction both addictive and terrifying for the both of you.

You grab a fistful of his shirt and shove him backwards after giving his bottom lip a careful nip, muttering a quick "Fuck you" before making your way over to the transportalizer and absconding to your respiteblock to seriously consider what the fuck you're doing with your life right now.


	3. Week Eleven

Another few weeks go by before your next real conversation with Strider, the human putting up his own elusiveness and paired with yours, it makes interactions between you two pretty scarce.

You're honestly not too sure how you feel about the break from him. You know you should be glad about it, happy that you can finally go a while without him teasing and nagging at you every chance he gets, but you're not, and you hate yourself for it. You hate the fact that for a brief moment you felt something other than platonic hatred towards that douche, and you hate the fact that you can't even tell what that emotion was. You spend more time than is appropriate worrying about this stuff, ruining the few weeks of tranquility Strider was nice enough to grant you.

Whenever one of you happens to enter the area that the other is inhabiting, the space grows silent, neither one of you daring to say anything to the other. The other occupants of the room go mute as well, convinced that this is going to be the one time one of you finally snaps and speaks to the other.

And then one of you does snap, and of course it's got to be you. You don't want to, but at this point you feel like you have to. You just can't take it anymore. Strider's not supposed to be the coward, and you've got to make him cut this shit out, no matter how much your pride's going to suffer because of it. You're well aware of the fact that stepping up and breaking your avoidance of him could quite possibly throw him back into a cycle of tormenting you daily, and in a way, that's exactly what you want.

You catch him alone in what's been dubbed the nutritional block, scarfing down what seems to be a poorly alchemized burger of sorts. You almost turn to leave the room at seeing him but you stop yourself, making your way over to the crooked oval table in the center of the area and taking the seat across from him.

You don't say anything at first, favoring folding your arms over the wooden surface with your chin placed on top and staring at him with those bright orange eyes of yours over actually making an effort to strike up a conversation, be it an argument or something else.

He pretends to not notice you at first, eating his food in an almost cautious manner, delaying the interlocution that was sure to occur with you for as long as possible. Only a minute or two of his slow, deliberate eating goes by before he turns to face you, though, raising an eyebrow.

"Kay, so you going to say anything or at you just gonna keep sitting there staring at me like some starved kitten."

"What the fuck are you doing?" You ask, ignoring his previous statement and keeping it short. You're not sure if you can handle going off on a tangent right now, your heart-rate already higher than it should be. Jesus fuck, what are you even nervous of?

The human shrugs, setting his half eaten meat sandwich down on the table and leaning back in his chair a bit. "Nothing much. Just sitting here; chilling. Eating a burger."

You roll your eyes, picking yourself off of the table and sending him a glare. "I mean why the fuck are you avoiding me."

Dave smirks at you, although it looks a bit forced. "Dunno. Why, you miss me? Gee, I'm touched."

You scowl. "Yes, that's obviously the reason behind my deciding to waste my fucking time on you. Yep, I can't believe you were able to figure that shit out. I should congratulate you, really. You deserve a fucking medal for figuring out this stuff."

"What, so you're saying you have another reason to grace me with your presence?"

That makes you shut up, dropping your gaze to the table. You know he's right. You know the only reason of your being here is because you're forming this awkward sort of attraction to him, although you're still not sure what kinds of feelings are driving it.

He laughs, then, quickly and tiredly, his expression matching one someone might have when forcing themselves to humor a child who's going on about one of their made up adventures.

"Christ, I knew it." He shakes his head, pausing for a few moments before turning back to you, another worn out smirk showing on his lips. "So what, one little kiss from Papa Strider over here and I've got you wrapped around my finger, that right?"

You flinch and you try to cover it up by crossing your arms and sending him another scowl, but he probably sees right through you either way. "No, fuck you. This is just weird, okay? I'm just not used to seeing you act like this pathetic little coward, running away from me like I'm an actual threat."

Strider's smirk becomes more real at that; lively again just like it used to be, and you're not sure if you should feel relieved or terrified. "So you're saying you're not used to me acting like you then, right? Cause not all that long ago you were the only one running, babe."

You lay a hand on the table, curling it into a fist and baring your teeth in his direction, your expression this twisted sort of glower that no human could hope to reproduce. "Shut the fuck up, that's not what I meant. Yes, I'm pathetic, okay? I am so fucking pathetic, and I definitely don't you of all people reminding me of that fact, but I'm not a fucking coward. The only reason I've been dodging around interactions with you is because I'm smart enough to stay away from you; because I actually realize that arguing with you is pretty much the worst idea ever since it's only going to lead to. Fuck, I don't know what it's going to lead to, but it can't be anything good."

The human props his elbows up on the table and rests his chin between his hands, raising his eyebrows in your direction. "You realize you're the one that came to me, right?"

You roll your eyes, letting out a long, exaggerated sigh. "Yes, I realize that, but I had to, alright? You haven't been acting like yourself and do you know how fucking disturbing that is? Seeing you all submissive instead of trailing after me like a fucking woofbeast like you normally do? I'll admit that what I'm doing right now probably isn't all that logical, not in the slightest, but you really need to cut this shit out. Last time I checked I was supposed to be the miserable little wimp wallowing in self pity; not you."

Dave shrugs, picking up his food and standing up, heading off towards the exit. "Kay, well thanks for the advice but I've got other things to do atm so I'll catch you later."

In an act of desperation you get up and practically sprint after him, grabbing him by the wrist and spinning him back around to face you. "Fuck you. Do you know how much time I've wasted on you? Fuck, what has it even been, almost three of your stupid Earth months? Yeah, okay, so I've wasted like, the past eleven weeks of my fucking life on you and what do you do? Just decide that I'm not worth your fucking time? What kind of asshole does shit like that. What kind of bastard, just. God, I hate you. I hate you so fucking much that your idiotic human think pan can't even comprehend the massive amounts of loathing that I hold towards every single atom that make up your fucking existence."

Strider clenches his fist but makes no move to get away from you. He hesitates a moment before opening his mouth to speak, but you interrupt him, screwing everything over and smashing your lips against his. You know you're going to regret this. You know that having feelings this black towards a human of all things is only going to lead to tragedy, but you can't help it. Not when he's this good at making you despise him.

After only a few moments of your furious snogging, the human moves to return the gesture, kissing you back with an intensity that matches yours for a while but quickly fades away into that sickly sweet style from before.

You sigh through your nose, letting yourself relax as the kiss softens a bit more and continues to mollify until it's no longer a kiss at all and you're just staring at the person in front of you with perplexed sort of look on your face. You're genuinely confused about not only what emotions are flashing through you right now, as always, but also by the fact that all of your anger, anxiety, and hatred seems to have melted away for the moment, but you're still not pulling away from him. You're still letting yourself stand there, a mere fraction of an inch away from the one person you hate more than yourself and you're 0kay with that. Happy about it even.


End file.
